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Exploring art by and about people of African descent, primarily through the lens of books, magazines and catalogs, Culture Type features original research and reporting and shares invaluable interestingness culled from the published record on black art.

THE VISIONARY AND IMAGINATIVE PAINTINGS of Kerry James Marshall are coming to New York. Presenting 35 years of painting, “Mastry” is the largest retrospective of the artist’s work to date. After debuting at MCA Chicago in April, the exhibition opens at The Met Breuer Oct. 25.

Marshall headlines a robust season of exhibitions featuring African American artists and artists from the wider African diaspora this fall. Lorna Simpson is showing a new series of paintings that represent a new direction in her photography-based practice at Salon 94 in New York and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas. Painter Henry Taylor‘s exhibition at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles includes a film collaboration with Khalil Joseph. Also in Los Angeles, “Hammer Projects: Simone Leigh” is the Brooklyn-based artist’s first solo museum exhibition in the city. At Goodman Gallery in London, Benin-born Romuald Hazoume‘s “All in the Same Boat” explores immigration issues.

Betye Saar, who has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance at age 90, is featured in a pair of exhibitions surveying her work at Roberts & Tilton gallery in Los Angeles and her first show in Italy is at the Prada Foundation in Milan. Another LA-based nanogenarian, Samella Lewis, 92, has a show at Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans.

THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM is revisiting the 1970s through works in its permanent collection. Nick Cave is presenting a football-size immersive installation at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass. Edgar Arceneaux has a solo exhibition in Massachusetts, too, at the MIT List Center. McArthur Binion‘s work is on view at Kavi Gupta in Chicago, and Mickalene Thomas is presenting “Do I Look Like a Lady?” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and a solo exhibition at Lehmann Maupin gallery in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., has mounted a Whitfield Lovell exhibition, and “Portals” at Victoria Miro Gallery in London is Njideka Ajunyili Crosby‘s first solo show in Europe. And “The Color Line,” a landmark exhibition in Paris, features more than 200 works by African American artists.

The following selection of 57 gallery and museum exhibitions, organized by opening date, demonstrates whether you are in New York or elsewhere, while there are not nearly enough, there are increasingly more opportunities to see compelling, insightful, and innovative art by black artists. CT

TOP IMAGE: KERRY JAMES MARSHALL, “Untitled (Studio),” 2014 (acrylic on PVC panels). | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Gift, Acquisitions Fund and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Multicultural Audience Development Initiative Gift, 2015. Photo courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, London

Dedicated to the late TERRY ADKINS, a University of Pennsylvania professor, the exhibition features Adkins’s work with contributions by 10 former students inspired by his practice, including Jamal Cyrus, Nsenga Knight, Tamkea Norris, and WILMER WILSON IV (above), “The Western Union.” | Courtesy Arthur Ross Gallery

Chicago-based DAWOUD BEY returns to Harlem as a subject for this exhibition. The community was the focus of his first project in the 1970s. Above, “A Couple Walking,” 2015 (archival pigment print). | via Stephen Daiter Gallery

For this exhibition, RODNEY MCMILLIAN explores the historical narratives and social systems that shape our lives, including the legacy of U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.), the first woman and first African American to seek the Democratic nomination for President. Shown, “pod: frequencies to a manifestationing,” 2016 (vases, wood shelves, spray paint, fabric, chicken wire, PA system and sound installation, dimensions variable). | Courtesy of the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Photo by Robert Wedemeyer

Presented at both of the gallery’s Chelsea locations, an exhibition of new paintings, drawings, sculptural elements, and film, including OSCAR MURILLO, “all the world’s futures,” 2016 (oil, oil stick, and graphite on canvas and linen). | via David Zwirner

This widely exhibited group show featuring 45 works from the Rubbell Family Collection by critically recognized African American contemporary artists is being presented on the West Coast for the first time. Shown, HANK WILLIS THOMAS, “Who Can Say No to a Gorgeous Brunette? from the Unbranded series,” 1970/2007 (digital C-print, Edition 1 of 5). | Courtesy of the Rubell Family Collection via Tacoma Art Museum

Exploring the issue of immigration, Benin-born ROMUALD HAZOUME is presenting new works in a range of mediums, including three major installations. Shown, “Cry of the Whale,” 2016 (metal plastic, wood, fabrics). | via October Gallery

Over the past 40 years the practice of FRED EVERSLEY has explored the possibilities of light, color, and shapes. The exhibition presents a series of sculptures he began in the 1970s. Shown, “Untitled,” 1976 (cast polyester resin). | Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University. Photo by Charles Mayer

Featuring paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture from the museum’s collection made between 1970 and 1979, “Circa 1970” includes recent key gifts of works by McArthur Binion, Robert Blackburn and David Hammons. Shown, BEAUFORD DELANEY, “Portrait of a Young Musician,” 1970 (acrylic on canvas). | Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Ms. Ogust Delaney Stewart, Knoxville, Tenn.; Courtesy Studio Museum in Harlem

MICKALENE THOMAS, “Clarivel with Black Blouse and White Ribbon,” 2016 (rhinestones and acrylic on wood panel). | Courtesy of the artist, Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Do you enjoy and value Culture Type? Please consider supporting its ongoing production by making a donation. Culture Type is an editorially independent solo project that requires countless hours and expense to research, report, write, and produce. To help sustain it, make a one-time donation or sign up for a recurring monthly contribution. It only takes a minute. Many Thanks for your support.

From the Archives: Culture Talk: Bruce Talamon on Photographing David Hammons

Soaring Past $7 Million, ‘Untitled (Painter)’ by Kerry James Marshall is Top Seller at Sotheby’s New York

Tate Britain Plans Major Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Survey in 2020

Major Works From the Charles White Archive Make a Rare Appearance in a Selling Exhibition at David Zwirner

Betye Saar, 92, is Taking Steps to Secure Her Legacy While Forging Ahead with New Artwork and Exhibitions

Black Art History: Jacob Lawrence’s Narrative Series About Black Perseverance and American Rebellion Inspired a Cache of Children’s Books

Black Art History: 10 Children’s Books Illuminate the Lives of Important African American Artists and Photographers

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